Naples City Council to hear $1.5 million roundabout project proposal

Three new roundabouts could be coming to the City of Naples, all at locations where traffic lights are outdated and could be a danger in a tropical storm.

Making the streets safer for all, that's the goal of Naples' Streets and Stormwater Director Gregg Strakaluse.

''We do have some concerns about making sure pedestrians and bicycles can get through the intersections safely," he said.

The city wants to replace its final five "span-wire" signalized intersections. This old design requires occasional maintenance and isn't safe during tropical storms.

"They may fail, and if anyone's out and around during a high wind event and they fail then there could be some problems," Strakaluse said.

Strakaluse will present the results of a six-month $50,000 study to City Council on Wednesday. He recommends installing roundabouts at three of the intersections, a proposal that would cost taxpayers about $1.5 million.

"If you can save a life that way, if you can make traffic move more efficiently that way it's certainly worth it," Brainhard said.

Brainhard said roundabouts would make the road safer because right now the bike lane unexpectedly ends at the traffic intersection on Crayton Road.

"It shortens the distances that people actually have to cross because there are medians or safety points in between and it also makes it very clear where cyclists can go," she said.

While there can be some confusion in how to use them, the city said roundabouts can result in a 35 percent reduction in total crashes and 76 percent reduction in injury crashes.

The Central Avenue roundabout opened in November. Strakaluse said so far it's been a great success.

"We haven't had a single accident at those roundabouts. Again, they are a safer intersection design," he said.

The recommendation is for a roundabout at the intersections of Harbour Drive and Crayton Road, Mooring Lane and Crayton Road, and Fleischmann and 10th St. They are recommending an all-way stop at Broad Ave S. and 8th St. S, and a new mast arm signal at 10th Ave. S. and 9th St. S. It will be up to City Council to decide how they want to move forward and how to budget for it.

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